England arrive in Miami as Three Lions camp begins in bid to end 60 years of World Cup hurt
Some of the players have been granted some extra time off before joining up later
England's journey to hopeful World Cup glory has officially begun after the squad landed in Florida on Monday evening.
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Some 20 members of Thomas Tuchel’s 26-man squad touched down in Miami after taking off from Birmingham Airport on Monday ahead of their pre-tournament warm-up camp.
Those that did not fly will later join up later, including Arsenal’s Declan Rice, Bukayo Saka, Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke following Saturday’s Champions League final defeat to Paris St Germain.
It marks the start of a journey that England will hope finishes in glory on July 19 by ending 60 years of hurt and winning the World Cup for the first time since 1966.
Tuchel has vowed to add a second star to the shirt this summer, but this will be one of the toughest assignments yet, given the conditions and logistics involved in a tournament spanning three countries and four time zones.
Five days of acclimatisation to the stifling heat – temperatures at their Palm Beach training camp are expected to be north of 30C – will be followed by a pre-tournament friendly against New Zealand in Tampa Bay on Saturday.
Tuchel’s men then head to Orlando for a final warm-up game with Costa Rica on Tuesday before a few days of rest and family time ahead of moving to their tournament base in Kansas City.
England’s Group L opener is against Croatia in Dallas on June 17.
They will hope it ends in New Jersey over a month later as Tuchel aims to join Sir Alf Ramsey in delivering a World Cup as England manager.
He was hired as Sir Gareth Southgate’s successor in November 2024 with the brief of winning this tournament.
The German, who was told by his agent he could never manage England due to his nationality, outlined his plans when he first met his players in March 2025.
Speaking before the flight, Tuchel said: "I can’t wait to get on the plane, look over my shoulder, finally have a team behind me and arrive in Florida and do what I love the most, which is be a coach."
He added: "The conditions are not our biggest enemy but it is not to our advantage.
"We are not used to being in this kind of heat and humidity, and even altitude if we play in Mexico.
"There will be a lot of challenges in this World Cup."
